To You I Belong
by herogary
Summary: A Mattie, Lucas, Ric and new girl story. Set one summer, when Mattie's cousin Nat comes to the Bay. MattieRic, LucasOC pairings. R&R! Rated T - to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Matilda Hunter sat on the couch in her living room, wondering how she was going to find a way to spend her summer. Her best friend Cassie was staying in the city with her new boyfriend, Henk, her ex-boyfriend and soon to be step-brother Lucas seemed to be spending all his time writing, and her only other real friend in this town, Ric, had been working non-stop to try and save up enough money to buy a new car. As Mattie sat slumped on the couch, trying to figure out what she could do to keep herself entertained, the phone rang. She dragged herself up and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mattie?!" an excited voice said from the other end of the line.

"Nat?" she exclaimed. "Oh my God, how are you?"

"I'm great! How are you? How is everyone?"

"I'm good. Everyone is good."

"Yeah? Well, guess what!"

"What?" Mattie asked. She hadn't heard from her cousin for years, and she knew there must be a reason she was calling now.

"I'm coming to the Bay for the summer!"

-

As Mattie hung up the phone, Ric came to her front door.

"Hey, Mattie," he said. "Do you want to come and have some lunch down at the Diner? I'm going to try and drag Luke down there too. I just feel like we haven't had much time to hang out lately."

"Um, yeah. Absolutely. But is it okay if I meet you there?" she asked. "There's just something I have to do first."

"Yeah. Sure. I'll go and get Luke and we'll meet you down there."

"Okay. Cool. And also, is it okay if I bring someone with me?" Mattie asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Who?" Ric asked.

"Oh, it's a long story. But I'll explain when we get there," Mattie said. "Now I have to fix a couple of things up here, and then go and get her but I'll be down at the Diner soon, okay?"

"Okay. See you there," Ric said, and headed over to Lucas' house.

He knocked, but there was no answer.

"Hello? Luke? Are you in there?" Ric called. "Hello?"

-

As Lucas home from the beach, after his surf, he noticed a girl standing at the bus stop ahead of him. She was probably around his age and she had long brown hair, tanned skin and was wearing a white singlet top and shorts, plus a pair of expensive looking sunglasses. He kept walking and towards her, and noticed she was looking in his direction, but her sunglasses stopped him from being able to tell whether or not she was looking at him.

She gave him a polite smile as he walked past, and he smiled back and gave her a nod. Luke found himself walking a lot slower as he passed her, as though giving himself time to take all of her in. She was wearing fresh smelling perfume, and her teeth sparkled in the sun as she smiled at him, as did the metal symbol on the side of her sunglasses.

He knew she must have been from out of town, not only because she was standing at the bus stop with a suitcase, but also because he hadn't seen her around before, and she looked like a city girl. She intrigued him, and not just because she was beautiful, but because he wondered about her. Where she was from, why she was here, what she was doing at the bus stop, who she was waiting for – so many questions that he'd probably never get answered.

Luke continued to walk to his house, when he saw Ric walking down on the opposite side of the road towards him.

"There you are," Ric called out. "I've been looking for you?"

"Oh yeah. Why's that?" Luke asked.

"Mattie and I are going down to the Diner for lunch, do you want to come?"

"Yeah. Sure. I feel like I haven't seen you guys for ages," Luke commented.

"My thoughts exactly," Ric said with his usual cheeky grin. "Do you want to go and put your board away?"

"Um, no, that's okay," Luke said, and turned around and headed back the way he came from with Ric.

"So where's Matilda?" Lucas asked as they headed for the Diner.

"I think she's still at home. She said she had to do a few things and then she was going to get someone."

"Who?" Luke asked.

"I have no idea. But she'd just got off the phone when I got to her house, so I'm guessing that has something to do with it."

As the boys walked down the road, they approached the girl Lucas had seen earlier, who was still waiting at the bus stop.

"Who is that?!" Ric said quietly to his mate as they came closer to her.

"I don't know. I saw her before. I'm guessing just someone who's come for the summer."

"Sweet maybe she'll be staying in the caravan park," Ric said with a grin. "Hi," he said as they passed her.

She smiled. "Hi." She lifted her sunglasses from her eyes, and placed them on the top of her head.

"Hi," Luke said, as he tried to hide his attraction towards her.

The boys kept walking, but Luke couldn't resist the urge to turn around and have another look at her. She saw it. But she'd been looking at him too.


	2. Chapter 2

Ric and Lucas had been waiting in the Diner for a while now, and had come up with two possibilities as to who this mystery guest might be. They'd put it down to either Cassie, or Henry, Mattie's brother.

"But she may have said 'she'," Ric said as they waited.

"Well I don't know..." Lucas said, giving up. "It's all a little mysterious. I mean, why wouldn't she have just told you?"

Ric shrugged, but then saw Mattie walk in, with her surprise person behind her. Lucas turned around to look what he was staring at.

"Oh, my God," Luke said under his breath, and turned back to look at Ric.

"Bus stop girl," Ric said with a grin.

"Hey," Mattie said, coming over to the two boys. "So, this is my cousin, Nat. She's going to be staying with us over the summer."

Ric and Lucas both looked at each other, then to Nat and Mattie.

"It's nice to meet you," Ric said finally.

"Nice to meet you guys too," Nat said, then turned to Mattie. "Um, where's the bathroom?"

Mattie pointed to the toilets and then sat down next to Ric and opposite Lucas.

"So, um, that's your cousin," Ric said, as though in disbelief.

"Yes it is...Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well it's just..." Ric paused. "Never mind."

"What?" Mattie asked.

"No. I just never knew you had a cousin, let alone a cousin who looks like that."

"Like what?" Mattie asked.

"Just like...never mind," Ric said again.

Mattie just shook her head.

"So she's staying all summer?" Luke asked.

"Yep," Mattie said, while looking over the menu. "Have you guys ordered?"

"No, we were waiting for you guys," Ric told her.

Ric and Lucas sat silently.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Mattie asked.

"What? Nothing," Ric lied.

"We just. We saw Nat before. When she was at the bus stop. That's all," Lucas explained.

"Okay..." Mattie said, not understanding why this was causing them to act the way they were. "Did you speak to her...?"

"No. Not really. Just said 'hi'," Ric told her, and then paused, as though he had something else to say but wasn't game enough to say it.

Nat arrived back from the bathroom and joined the three of them at the table. She sat next to Lucas and opposite Mattie.

She smiled at Lucas as she sat down, and Mattie and Ric continued to look through the menu.

-

After lunch, Mattie and Nat caught up in Nat's room, while Nat unpacked her suitcase. It had been so long since the two girls had seen each other that they had so much to talk about. They spoke about friends, boyfriends, parents, brothers, sisters, brothers, pets, shopping, celebrities, birthdays, Christmas', New Years', music, Summer Bay gossip. Anything you could think of. Mattie gave Nat the low-down on the people in the town, including Lucas and Ric.

"So, what's going on with you and Ric?" Nat asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I just noticed some funny little vibe between the two of you, are you guys, like, dating or anything?" Nat asked.

Mattie shook her head. "No. We're just friends."

Nat raised her eyebrow. "You like him?"

Mattie sighed.

"Aw! Mattie! Have you told him?" Nat asked, moving closer to her cousin and putting an arm around her.

"No. It's just stupid. It's nothing really. I'll get over it," Mattie said.

"What? Why? Why don't you tell him?!" Nat exclaimed.

"Because. We've been friends for so long. It would just be weird. Like, what if he doesn't feel the same way and then it will be so unbelievably awkward and our friendship will be as good as ruined. Seriously, I've thought this through a lot, and I've come to the conclusion that it is much better this way."

"Why? Coz you're trying to avoid any awkwardness?" Nat asked, not convinced that Mattie was making the right decision. "Mattie, look, I know you don't want to get hurt, and you're probably just trying to protect your heart, but at least if you tell him you get an answer, isn't that better than never knowing?"

"I just...I don't know if I'm ready to tell him just yet."

-

"So, can you believe that?" Ric said to Luke as the two boys arrived back at Lucas' house after lunch with Nat and Mattie.

"I know," Luke agreed. "Who'd have thought?"

"Yeah. But, I guess, what else would you expect from Mattie's cousin?" Ric said.

Luke looked at Ric. "What's going on with you and Mattie?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Ric asked.

"You know what I mean. There's been this funny little vibe between you for a while now."

"What? No. That's not...no," Ric said, unconvincingly.

"Do you like her?" Luke asked with a grin.

"I...ah...it's just..." Ric struggled to find words.

Luke's grinned widened. "You do like her."

Ric gave him a helpless look.

"It's okay man, I'm happy for you. I think you guys would make a really great couple."

"Are you sure?" Ric asked. "Coz I don't want to make things weird. I mean, I doubt it's even gonna go anywhere, but like, if it does I don't want things to be weird."

"Seriously, Ric, Mattie and I were done a long time ago. I'm over it, and I know she is too, so you should go for it," Luke said, encouragingly.

"I was gonna say the same thing to you," Ric said with a grin.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, trying to act innocent.

"Oh, gee, I don't know, maybe the fact that all through lunch you had this stupid goofy grin on your face. And when we walked past the bus stop you couldn't stop staring."

Luke looked to the floor and shook head.

"Come on," Ric encouraged.

"What? No way. I couldn't. It's too weird."

"Come on. If I can ask Mattie out, you can ask Nat out," Ric told him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey," Ric said as he stood in the doorway of the Hunter house the next morning. Mattie and Nat were sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Ric," Nat said. "Come in."

"Thanks," Ric said, coming inside.

"I'm just going to go for that walk," Nat said, getting up and leaving Mattie and Ric alone.

"See ya," Ric said.

Mattie gave her a stare.

"Ah, sit down," she told Ric.

-

As Nat walked down the Hunter driveway, she saw Lucas sitting on his front porch.

"Luke. Hey," she said, walking to the fence.

"Hey," he said, surprised.

"What are you doing?" Nat asked.

"Oh, I was just...sitting," Luke said.

"Do you mind if I come and sit with you? Ric and Mattie are inside and I kind of want to leave them alone," Nat said.

"Oh," Lucas said knowingly. "Yeah. Sure."

"So, I'm guessing you've worked out there's something going on between them," Luke said as she sat down opposite him.

"Oh yeah. And I'd say right now their either sitting awkwardly, or making out on the couch," Nat said with a cheeky grin.

-

"So what are you doing here?" Mattie asked Ric.

"Oh – I just – I wanted to...to come and ask you something," Ric said with a nervous smile, tripping on his words.

"What is it?" Mattie asked, hopefully.

"I wanted to ask...I wanted to ask your advice," Ric said, chickening out. "Is this barbecue tonight a formal thing, like should I wear a shirt, or is it a more t-shirt and thongs kind of barbecue?"

"Oh, um, it's probably like an in-between kind of thing," Mattie said, trying to hide her disappointment. "Maybe like a shirt and thongs kind of occasion," she said with a laugh, even though she knew what she said was incredibly embarrassing.

-

"I'm going to say awkward silence," Luke said. "Ric's gonna chicken out, unless Mattie does something..."

"No. She won't. She's too scared. If something's gonna happen, he's going to have to make the first move."

"God, that's so unfair. Why do the guys always have to make the first move?"

"You don't always make the first move," Nat disagreed.

"I've always made the first move in the relationships I've been in."

"Well then, Lucas, what are you doing for lunch?" Nat asked with a cheeky grin.

-

"Okay. Cool. Thanks for that. That's all I needed to know. I'm just gonna..." Ric said, getting up and heading for the door.

"Alright then. I'll just..." Mattie got up and walked the few steps with him to the door. "I guess I'll just see you tonight then," she said.

"Yeah. Okay. Cool. I'll see ya then," Ric said, giving an awkward wave as he left.

Mattie went back inside, sat down on the couch and let out a huge sigh.

-

Lucas was taken aback.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

Nat shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Um, okay. Yeah, okay, sure. Sounds good," he said, still a little shocked.

"Then it's a date," Nat said with a grin, as she stood up. "I'll see you at 1." And with her grin she walked back to the Hunter house.

Ric and Nat passed each other in the driveway – Nat with her grin, Ric with his frustration at himself.

Ric walked over and sat in the chair Nat had been sitting in, opposite Lucas.

"Well, I completely screwed that up," he said in a huff.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Luke said, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

"I asked her what I should wear to the stupid barbecue tonight. I was like, 'I want to ask you advice'. My God, what the hell was that?!" Ric whined in frustration.

"I think you're just making it too complicated," Luke said.

"What do you mean?"

"If you want to ask her out, just ask her out. It's not that hard."

Ric looked at him in amazement. "What is wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing," Luke said with a grin. "I just think if you want to ask her out, ask her out. You know she's going to say yes anyway."

"Nah, nah, it's not nothing. There's something going on with you," Ric said, ignoring Lucas' advice. "What happened? Was Nat just here?"

"She was but that's irrelevant. I just don't think you should be worrying so much about this."

"Something happened. What was it?" Ric asked, "Did you ask her out?"

Lucas shook his head. He'd given up avoiding it.

"Then what?"

"Nothing. We're just going out for lunch, that's all," Luke said coolly.

"What? Is it like, a date?" Ric asked, with a grin.

"Yeah, but it's just like...it's not a real date," he said trying to play it down.

-

"Oh my God!" Matilda squealed. "You asked Lucas out?!"

"Yes, but Mattie shush. He and Ric are right next door. Besides, it's not like a serious date, it's just...well it's hard to explain, but we're just going out for lunch."

Mattie squealed. "Oh my God that's so cute!"

"What? It's not cute. It's just...it's just a date."

"What are you going to wear?!" Mattie asked excitedly.

"I don't know. What I'm wearing now?"

"No, no, no. You can't do that," Mattie said, getting up and rushing into Nat's room. "Don't worry I'll find you something," she said, going through Nat's wardrobe.

"Oooh, I like this," she said, pulling out a black dress.

"Mattie! That's way too good for lunch. Besides that's what I'm wearing tonight," she said.

"Oooh, what about this top?" Mattie said, pulling out a white singlet top with a blue and black swirl design on the front. "And you can wear it with those blue shorts I saw," she said.

"Fine. That's fine," Nat said, unfussed.

-

Lucas stood in front of his wardrobe, looking at his collection of t-shirts. He was trying to decide which would be best for his lunch date with Nat.

He eventually decided on his orange polo with his khaki cargo shorts.

It was 12.56. He wasn't sure where they were meeting – whether she wanted him to come and get her, or if she was going to come over; if they were meeting outside their houses, or if they were meeting down at the Diner. He decided to wait inside a little longer and then make his way outside at around 1.04 – not 1, but not quite 5 past. He thought that would be okay. He didn't know how they did things in the city, but that would be acceptable in Summer Bay.

At 12.58 he had a quick look out the front window, to see if Nat was out there waiting, but she wasn't. He had another look at 1.00 and then again at 1.02 and 1.03, before heading out right as the clock clicked over to 1.04.

He decided to go up to the Hunter house and see if she was ready. He knocked on the door, and Mattie answered with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Hey, Mattie. Is, ah – is Nat here?" he asked.

Her grin widened. "Yeah. She's just in her room," Mattie said, pointing down to Nat's room.

"Okay. Thanks," Luke said. He walked over to Nat's room, which was opposite the front door and had formerly been a doctor's surgery, and knocked.

"Hang on," she called from the other side.

Luke stood waiting for a second before Nat opened the door in the clothes Mattie had picked earlier.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go."

-

A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed! Sorry I take a while to update. But I'm really enjoying writing this fic so I'm glad there are some people out there enjoying it!


	4. Chapter 4

It was 6 o'clock in the evening and Luke and Nat were no where to be found.

"Where are they?" Tony asked Mattie while he helped Beth set up for the barbecue.

"Um, they went out a little earlier. I'm sure they'll be home soon," Mattie said, trying to cover up the fact that Luke and Nat had left their houses 5 hours ago and still weren't back.

One of two things must have happened, she had concluded. Either they were having so much fun together that they had just lost track of time, or they'd had such a bad date that they were trying to avoid each other.

Mattie was already ready for the barbecue. She'd put in extra effort because she knew Ric was coming, and she knew he was arriving soon. She sat in her room, day-dreaming what it would be like if her and Ric could finally get together, and all the fun they could have together over the summer.

She was interrupted when Ric came and knocked on her door.

The knock made her jump slightly. And when she saw it was Ric, she tensed up, becoming nervous.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she said, turning and facing him properly.

He walked in and sat on her bed.

"So, do you have any idea where Luke and Nat are?" he asked.

Mattie shook her head. "No idea. I hope everything's okay," she said, suddenly realising that maybe they'd been away so long because something was stopping them coming back.

Ric grinned. "I'm sure they're fine. Probably just lost track of time."

Mattie sighed. She wished that it could be her and Ric out, losing track of time, having fun. Instead they were here, in her bedroom, talking about everyone else having fun.

"I heard from Cassie today," he said. "Her and Henk are actually going away for a few weeks to Thailand."

"Oh really? That's really cool. Good for her."

Mattie couldn't help but sound a little insincere. She was jealous. She was jealous of everyone – of Cassie, of Henk, of Nat, of Lucas. She was jealous of her mum and Tony. She was jealous of Jack and Martha. She was jealous of everyone who was with the one they wanted to be with. She was jealous of their courage, of being able to put their hearts on the line. It just seemed to be something she couldn't do.

"Would I be able to get you guys to come and help us take all the food out to the barbecue," Tony said, putting his head in the door.

"Yeah. Sure," Ric said, standing up.

Mattie pulled herself up and followed. It was going to be a long summer.

-

At 6:45, Nat and Lucas came through the door.

"Sorry we're late," Lucas said as they walked into the house, in which only Beth was inside.

"Where have you been?" Beth asked. "We were getting worried."

"Yeah, sorry, the bus broke down," Nat explained.

"Why were you on the bus?" Beth asked.

"We went into Yabbie Creek to look for something," Nat said, being very vague. "I'm just going to get changed," she said, heading into her room.

"I might just quickly go home and grab something actually," Lucas said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He walked towards the door, made sure Beth wasn't looking and crept into Nat's room.

"Geez, haven't you heard of knocking," Nat said as she placed the earrings she'd been wearing on her bedside table.

"Oh, sorry," Luke said, turning around.

"Luke. I was kidding. It's fine. What's up?" she asked.

"Um, well, I was wondering, what are we going to tell everyone?" Luke asked Nat.

"What do you mean?" Nat asked.

"Well, I mean, are we going to tell them...about what today was?"

"What do you mean?" Nat asked seductively, grinning at him.

Lucas grinned and sighed.

"But, can we please be serious for a second?" he asked.

"Alright."

"I don't know what you thought about today, but I would put it up there as one of the best days of my life, definitely one of the best days I've had with a girl and I know you're only here for the summer, and it can't really go anywhere, but while you're here, I'd like for this...us...to keep going."

Nat smiled.

"You know, I think you're probably the cutest guy I've ever met, Lucas Holden."

Luke looked away, feeling embarrassed. She made him feel so much of everything, but most of all she made him feel insecure. He worried so much about what she thought. Too much, he knew. But he couldn't help it. He had felt it since the first time he saw her.

Nat walked over to him.

"You should take that as a compliment."

Lucas looked at her. She was so different to anyone he'd ever met. So different to every girl he'd ever been with.

"As for what you said, if we could even have half as much fun each day I'm here, I would leave a very happy girl."

With that, she leant up, and kissed him.

-

Outside, Ric and Mattie were sitting in a corner of the backyard, watching everyone having fun, relaxing, enjoying themselves. Ric and Mattie, it seemed, were not. They both knew what they were feeling, yet they couldn't seem to let it out, to let each other know.

Mattie sat, silently.

Ric was very unsettled. He couldn't sit still. He was trying to make small talk with Mattie, but it just wasn't working.

He jumped up.

"I'm going to get a drink. Do you want one?" he asked.

"No, thank you," she replied politely.

While Ric was getting the drink, Martha went a sat next to Mattie.

"How's it going?" she asked.

Mattie shrugged.

"You know, it's pretty obvious to just about everyone that there's weird going on with you and Ric," she said. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

"I wish."

Martha contemplated for a second, then spoke.

"Look if I know Ric, then I know this is probably killing him, all this tip-toeing around. And I don't really know why you guys are just ignoring it, but I must tell you, in my experience, sometimes if you wait too long for something, you might lose it altogether."

Mattie didn't say anything.

Martha smiled and stood up.

"Martha," Mattie said.

"Yes?"

"Do you think it's possible to be in love with someone without realising it?"

Martha paused for a moment.

"I do. I also think it's possible to convince yourself that you're not in love with someone if you try for long enough," she replied.

Mattie sat for a second, before standing up, walking over to Ric, taking his arm and leading him inside.

Ric didn't say anything. He knew what she was doing, and he was relieved.

She led him down the hallway and into her room, where she closed the door.

She sat him onto her bed.

"I need to know something," she said, panting with anguish.

Ric looked at her intensely.

"Do you feel it, too?"

Ric exhaled and rubbed his head with his hands.

"I think you know the answer to that," Ric said.

"But that's just it, Ric, I don't. I honestly don't know if I'm just imagining everything. If I just want you to feel what I feel so badly that I'm like creating it in my mind or something. It's driving me crazy. I can't think without thinking of you..."

Ric reached out and pulled her towards him. He took her hand, as she stood, looking down at him.

He kissed her hand.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have let it get this far."

Mattie panicked. She thought he was talking about her feelings. That he hadn't meant to lead her on. She pushed him away.

"Oh, my gosh," she said. "I'm so stupid. I'm so sorry."

"What? Mattie. No! I meant we shouldn't have ignored it for so long. I do feel the same. I've felt it for a long time, too."

Mattie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

With that, he lent up, and kissed her.


	5. Chapter 5

The night kicked on and everyone at the barbecue seemed to be happy. Ric and Lucas stood in the back corner of the backyard, watching Nat and Mattie talking to Beth.

"So, you guys are on?" Ric asked Lucas.

Lucas smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

Ric grinned.

"It's weird. I've known her, what, two days? And already I feel like..." Lucas trailed off.

"Like what?" Ric asked.

"I don't know. All I know is she makes me happier than I've been in a long time," Lucas said before changing the subject. "So, you and Mattie? You guys got your acts together?"

Ric smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, we did."

"I'm really happy for you guys," Lucas said.

"And me for you. Now if you'll excuse me, there is someone much hotter than yourself who seems to be calling me inside," Ric said with a cheeky grin. He stood up and walked towards Mattie, passing Nat on the way.

"Hey," Nat said as she approached Lucas.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

Nat sat down next to him, close.

"Can I tell you something?" she whispered.

"What?" he asked, their faces just inches away from each other.

"I wish all these other people weren't here right now," she said.

Lucas had to use all his might not to lean over and start kissing her at that moment. Just the way she leaned close to him as she whispered. His heart was racing.

He didn't reply. He just blushed.

--

"Thank you again, Beth," Martha said as she and Jack left. They were the last of the guests to go, apart from Ric, and had been helping with the clean up.

"My pleasure," Beth said. "Good night."

"Good night."

"Night."

"I'm so glad they finally found each other again," Beth said as she closed the front door.

"Jack's the happiest he's been in a long time," Tony said with a smile.

"Now, you two," Beth said, turning to Mattie and Ric. "I am very happy for both of you, but I want to warn you – no sleep overs, no late nights, no nights alone..."

"Mum!" Mattie cut her off.

Nat and Lucas were both laughing. Ric looked terrified.

"At least until you've finished school, okay? I don't want this to distract you from your HSC."

"It won't, Mum. I promise," Mattie assured her.

"Alright. Now why don't you kids go off and enjoy the night while it's still young," Beth said.

"Mum, it's 11 o'clock..." Mattie said, unsure. Her mother never usually encouraged her to be out this late, let alone _go_ out this late.

"Just think of it as a welcoming Nat to the Bay treat," Beth said, with a smile.

Mattie knew something was up, but she wasn't going to push it.

"Thanks, Mum," she said. "We won't be out too late."

The four kids headed out the door, and decided to head down to the beach for a late night bonfire.

"So, does anyone have matches?" Nat asked.

"I'll grab some from my house," Lucas said, running into his driveway.

"So, why do you think Aunty Beth wanted us out the door so badly?" Nat asked.

"I have an idea, but Mattie you might want to cover your ears," Ric said with a grin.

"Ohh! No! Ric!" Mattie groaned.

Nat laughed.

--

When they arrived at the beach, they realized that another group had had the same idea. Mattie groaned as they got closer and she realized who the group was.

"Aden Jefferies and co," she told Nat. "Summer Bay's notorious bad boy. A title formerly held by Ric," she told her.

"How edgy of you, Ric," Nat said in a congratulatory manner.

Ric shook his head. "I was not."

"Mmmm hmmm," Mattie said, knowing better.

"Do you guys really want to stay here?" Lucas asked.

"Come on," Nat encouraged. "It'll be fun. We'll find our own bit of beach. We won't even notice them."

"I guess we can head a bit further down," Ric suggested.

Everyone agreed, so they headed down ramp to the beach, heading in the direction of the pier.

"Hey, Dalby." They heard a voice call.

Ric groaned and turned around. "What do you want, Aden?"

"Just wanted to see who your new friend was. Hi, I'm Aden," he said, closing in on Nat.

"She's my cousin," Mattie said defensively.

"Oh, that's too bad," Aden teased. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Nat."

"Wanna come join us?" Aden asked.

"Why would I want to do that?" Nat asked.

Aden moved in closer.

"I'll make it worth your while."

"Really? How's that?" Nat said, playing along. She knew she'd be able to win this.

He leant in a whispered in her ear. Lucas cracked. He moved in and pushed Aden away from Nat.

"Back off," Lucas warned.

"Lucas. I didn't know you had it in you," Aden quipped. "I thought you just let it all out in your precious little diary. 'Dear diary, today Aden was mean to me'. Yeah, that's going to win the ladies over."

"Says the guy who's not getting laid tonight, to the guy who just might," Nat said with satisfaction.

Lucas looked alarmed.

Aden walked closer to Nat. "You might have to be gentle with him. Little Lucas isn't really experienced in that area," he said, before walking away with a smug grin.

"Come on," Ric said. "Let's just go."


	6. Chapter 6

The four teens had found a spot far away from Aden and his friends, on the other side of the pier where they had settled. Mattie and Ric were talking intimately, so Nat and Lucas decided to get up and walk down to the pier.

"We'll be back," they said to Mattie and Ric as they got up, not that they would have even noticed they were gone. They were too busy with each other.

"I like it here," Nat said to Lucas as they walked. "There's this sense of...stillness that you don't get in the city."

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I remember the first time I arrived here. Dad and Jack and I, we moved around a lot, but this town just felt like a place where we could settle. It sort of sucks you in, just everything about it."

"Well it's certainly sucked me in," Nat said.

"Too bad about guys like Aden Jeffries," Lucas said, looking down to where he and his friends had their beach fire.

Nat shrugged. "If he's the worst you've got, you should be pretty happy. Besides, you could take that guy," Nat teased.

"Oh yeah," Lucas laughed. "I'd take him any day."

They walked up the steps and onto the pier.

"So what's your neighbourhood like?" Lucas asked Nat.

"It's pretty typical of a middle-class city suburb. A few trees here and there, some parks around, a couple of schools – nothing special."

"And do you go to school near where you live?" Lucas asked. He wanted to know about her life, about her.

"It's about a 10 minute drive. My school isn't in the same suburb as where I live, but it's pretty close."

"And your parents? What do they do?" Lucas asked.

"My mum's a lawyer and my dad works for a construction company, he's a project manager."

"Sounds intense."

"What do you mean?" Nat asked.

"Well I mean, my dad's a school teacher. And my mum was a secretary. Your parents have actual careers."

"Hey, I wanted to be a school teacher back in the day," Nat told him.

"Yeah, until you realised there were better jobs out there. And that you could do more with your life."

"I don't know, Luke, I imagine teaching would be a pretty rewarding job. I mean, you're giving kids an education. You're giving them a chance at life. It's actually a very noble job. But hey, that's just what I think."

"Well, I couldn't think of anything worse. I mean, spending your whole life, at school. Sounds like my worst nightmare."

Nat laughed.

"What do you want to be when you're older, Mr Holden?" Nat asked.

"Well I've always loved writing. But I don't want to just be a journalist. I want to write novels. I want to write about romance and tragedy. I want to write epic stories. I want to write novels that will be studied in schools and universities because they mean something. I want to write stories that change people's lives."

Nat stopped walking. She looked at Lucas with amazement.

"That's incredible," she told him. "To have such a passion. It's very inspiring, you know."

Lucas blushed. He felt embarrassed. He'd just told her one of his greatest dreams, something he'd told few people before her.

"Are you blushing?" she asked.

Lucas looked away.

"That's so sweet." Nat leaned in and kissed Lucas on the lips. What he had just said had sent shivers down her spine.

Meanwhile, on the beach, Mattie and Ric were having a conversation of their own, until they were interrupted.

"Hey Dalby!' It was Aden again.

Ric groaned. "What do you _want_ Aden? No body's interested in you."

"Hey, let your boy Lucas know if he ever touches me again, I won't be so kind."

"What is that a threat?" Ric asked, standing up and walking towards Aden.

"Ric…" Mattie said, pulling him back.

"Better watch it Dalby, I heard you're still on your good behaviour bond. We wouldn't want you to end up back in jail, would we?" Aden teased.

"Aden," Lucas called out. He and Nat were walking back from the pier. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to let you know, pretty boy, that if you so much as lay one finger on me again, all hell will rain down on you and your little girlfriend here."

Lucas walked closer to Aden, angry.

"Lucas," Nat pleaded.

"Seems like I've found the one thing that sets you off, Holden."

"Back off Aden," Ric warned.

"Or what, Dalby?" Aden asked. "You don't want to go back to jail remember?"

"Come on guys, lets just go," Nat told them.

Mattie stood up, and lead Ric away. Nat took Lucas' hand.

"Let's go," she trepeated.

"See you later, sweetheart," Aden teased.


End file.
